Three US officials informed CNN that Chinese hackers have infiltrated the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). CFIUS is responsible for reviewing foreign investments that pose national security risks to the United States.
CFIUS is composed of representatives from 16 US departments and agencies, including officials from the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Commerce, and the Department of Homeland Security, with the Secretary of the Treasury serving as the chairman. CFIUS has broad powers to block Chinese investments in the US.
According to CNN reports, a Treasury Department spokesperson did not respond to questions about the hacker attack on CFIUS.
This cyber attack is part of a broader intrusion by Chinese hackers into the US Treasury Department’s systems. CFIUS, which was targeted by the hackers, received expanded powers in December to review real estate transactions near US military bases. US lawmakers and national security officials are increasingly concerned that the Chinese government or its proxies could engage in espionage activities by acquiring land near US military bases.
Two US officials disclosed to CNN that hackers also targeted the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. The office recently imposed sanctions on a Chinese company suspected of involvement in cyberattacks.
US officials are reviewing specific documents accessed by the hackers and conducting analysis to assess the overall impact of the stolen information on national security. Despite no evidence indicating that the hackers accessed classified information, US government officials are concerned that if non-sensitive information is pieced together, it could provide valuable intelligence to China.
In November of last year, US authorities revealed that hackers linked to China infiltrated an undisclosed number of telecommunications companies, intercepting surveillance data used by US law enforcement agencies and stealing customer call records.
On December 30, the Treasury Department sent a letter to Congress and disclosed that China-backed hackers attacked part of the Treasury Department’s computers, accessing some workstations. Workstations refer to personal computers or terminals used by employees.
The letter stated that the hackers breached a third-party network security services provider for the Treasury Department, gaining access to non-sensitive documents. The hackers “obtained a key used by the vendor to secure a cloud-based service,” which was utilized to provide technical support to end-users in Treasury Department offices remotely.
On January 8, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who leads CFIUS, stated in an interview with CNBC that when meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, she raised the issue of Chinese cyberattacks. She mentioned that this behavior is detrimental to the relationship between the two countries. The US is taking and has taken action against the perpetrators of cyberattacks.